The 677 acre Sucia Island Marine Park made up Sucia Island, Little
Sucia Island and a cluster of smaller islands and unnamed rocky
formations is one of the most beautiful island destinations in the San
Juan Islands. Sucia has several safe anchorages and ashore offers hiking
trails, beaches, coves, and incredible views in every direction. Its no
wonder Sucia gets over 100,000 visitors each year.

In
terms of geology and diverse wildlife, Sucia is a natural wonder and a
fantasy island for fishermen and outdoor enthusiasts. Sucia is
accessible only by Boat, Sea Kayak or Seaplane-There there's no
Washington State Ferry service and no cars, bars, or supermarkets so if
you want or need it, you'd better bring it with you.

Kayak Tours To SuciaThere are several Kayak outfitters from neighboring islands that offer
Kayak rentals and guided excursions of the island as well as overnight
Kayak adventures. Some guided Kayak excursions may include other nearby
islands such as Matia Island to the east (Muh-tee-ah) and Patos (Pah-toes)
Island (Duck Island)to the west. If you can't seem to remember the
correct pronunciation don't worry, few people get it right.

ACQUISITION OF
SUCIA ISLAND LANDS

How much would you expect to pay for an island getaway in the middle of
Puget Sound? An undeveloped one acre island in the San Juans can cost over
a million dollars so how much is a 564 acre island worth?
**Priceless ** Of Course.

Sucia Island, now run by the Washington state park service was purchased
for less than seven thousand dollars($6,818.67) which comes out to about $12.00
dollars per acre. The first parcel
of the island was purchased in 1952 and the most recent parcel was acquired in 1974.

Note: The two finger islands in Echo bay are still privatively
owned but they too could
eventually become part of the Sucia Island Marine Park.

Planning
A Trip To Sucia Island

If this is your first time visiting Sucia Island
Marine Park and
you're trying
to decide where to go first, you'll want to explore
each of Sucia's six bays and coves
online at the
links above because each one is very different in personality and suitability
depending on your type of boat and projected weather conditions.

For the most part Sucia Island coves
offer safe harbor and calm waters but certain anchorages can get very bouncy
depending on wind direction and wind speed. (Mainly Ewing Cove with an East
wind, and Shallow Bay with a west wind.)

Know Before You Venture Out On Puget Sound - Weather Warnings

Be sure to check the National Weather
Service Marine Forecast before attempting any crossing to Sucia or any other
area island especially via Sea Kayak. Pacific Northwest storms are notorious
for their sudden onset out-of-the-blue and their ferocity.

Weathering a Puget Sound storm in an
unprotected anchorage can be an almost religious experience, and after such
an unpleasant experience you just might find yourself listing your dream boat
on Craigslist the following morning. During one of these storms or even a
shift in wind direction you could find yourself breaking anchor and drifting
towards the rocks. Talk to
any fellow boater that has spend some time on local waters and they will
have stories to tell you.

A Day In The Life On Sucia Island

Sucia Island is situated just north of Orcas Island
and is easily reachable by watercraft from all directions. The majority of
boaters visiting the island originate from Anacortes, Bellingham, Blaine,
and Friday Harbor, with a sprinkling of Canadians down from Vancouver.

Canadians visiting Sucia Island must call the U.S. Customs and Border
Protection office using the "Small Vessel Reporting System" and carry a
"Proof of Citizenship" with them while in U.S. Waters. The Canadians
visiting Sucia seem to enjoy a camaraderie with fellow boaters
from the States and they tend to be great conservationists. Some have also created
ingenious ways to
reserve buoys and dockspace for their friends that haven't arrived yet, like placing rows of chairs along the open dock
area or tying up dinghies to buoys.

Sucia attracts a wide
variety of boating enthusiasts. There's always a good mix of cabin cruisers, sailboats,
and perhaps a few chartered trawlers. Larger Yachts tend to arrive for long
weekends Friday through Sunday, and you tend to see a larger number of
Kayakers day-trippers and Kayak campers arriving on weekends especially during peak
vacation months.

During the high season, your best chance at getting a buoy is early in
the week or any morning about 10:30 a.m. - 11 a.m. when many people have
finished breakfast and cast off for their next port of call. Dock space is
much harder to come by in summer months but keep a positive attitude and
maybe some space will open up for you.

The floating docks in Fossil
Bay are great for meeting fellow boaters and are a great place to tie up
without fussing with threading your line through a Buoy--a skill some
skippers and crew can't seem to master. The dock also makes
it easy to make your way to the pay station and bring firewood ashore. As
the sun sets some people settle in to their cockpits often with a glass of
wine while others row or motor to the dock or ashore in their dinghies for a
campfire and some late evening socializing.

On shore there
tends to be a kind of Camaraderie amongst fellow boaters, but just like
anywhere else you may run
into an occasional caustic sour apple or two but as a rule people tend to be happy-go-lucky
on the island enjoying their mini vacation. The unique terrain of this
677 acre
island park accommodates its visitors in 6 different
bays and coves- each of which has its own unique personality. Echo
Bay - Fossil Bay -
Ewing
Cove - Snoring Bay -
Fox
Cove - Shallow Bay.

Sailboats with large drafts and larger boats
tend to gravitate to Echo Bay. Mid-sized cruisers and boats of all types can
usually be found in Fossil Bay, and Kayakers tend to take advantage of the
shallow waters and sandy beaches of Snoring Bay and Fox Cove. People
that gravitate to Shallow Bay seem to want a bit more away from the
mainstream and the activity that goes with it. On a busy weekend the coves
and bays are alive with activity--swarms of dinghies, kayaks, sailboards,
and small sailboats make for great people and boat watching.

If you prefer solitude you might prefer to visit during
the week or in the off season, or choose one of Sucia's smaller coves like
Snoring
bay but during the busy season no place is
really secluded.

Exploring Sucia Island
Via Dinghy Lingy?

The unique shoreline around
Sucia island makes exploring the
coastline in a dinghy a favorite past-time. Every nook and cove has
something special to discover like eroded sandstone cliffs and shorelines
with patterns and shapes that are both beautiful and bizarre. Sucia is
teaming with wildlife-- Bald eagles, seals, Canadian Geese, Ducks, and Puffins
are a common sight, and
of course there are plenty of Seagulls ever eager for a handout.

The best time to observe wildlife is early morning at
day break as you set out in your dingy. You will likely see a half dozen or
more resident Bald Eagles swooping down and skimming the water between the
finger islands of echo bay, and you can do a bit of seal watching, which is
best down just outside of Ewing Cove on Sucia's Northeast corner. If you
have a pet on board the seals tend to be very curious with a special
interest in little yappy dogs. After a few cautious passes they then dive
and disappear.

DIRTY
ISLAND / Sucia Island Washington

Sucia in Spanish means "Dirty"
although in a nautical sense. When Captain Elizanamed
Sucia in 1791 it wasn't because it was filthy, it was due
to the many
submerged reefs in the bays and around the island that made it unsuitable for ships to
land.

Eliza and his crew on the San Carlos were frustrated by the strong currents and lack of
wind that carried their ship off where they didn't want to go and caused them to
run their shipaground three
times. They had set out exploring Puget Sound to find riches for his motherland but all he found was dreary weather, fog, and rocky
islands.

Finally Captain Eliza and his crew had enough of the Pacific Northwest, turned their boat
around and headed back to California, leaving it for the British Americans to
explore and stake their claims. "You Can Have It!"

Mysterious
Moving Island

Like in an episode of the television show
"Lost" where one of its villainous characters is able to move
their island, Sucia Island has done a bit of moving around of its own over the years.

Geologists say that the west side of Sucia Island was once
at the ocean
floor where it was home to prehistoric reptilian sea monsters like the 49ft
Mosasaur. When Sucia was home to giant sea reptiles it was located over
1,500 miles away in Baja California. During its migration north
to become one of the San Juan's, Sucia picked
up portions of it's east side of the island in multiple places along the
way creating a mosaic of different rock types. You don't have to be a
geologists to notice the distinct layers and composition of the various rock
features around the island.

Giants From The Abyss

Today, the deep waters surrounding Sucia
Island are no longer host to Mosasaurs however they are home to other large
creatures including a resident Orca Whale population and the mysterious
Giant Bluntnose Sixgill Shark or "Cow Shark" (Hexanchus Griseus). Giant
Sixgill Sharks have far more in common with Jaws than they do with swimming
cows. A mature Sixgill can grow to more than 24 feet in length and weigh in
as much as a Great White Shark.

These strange and elusive predators prefer
the deep waters of Puget Sound during the day but as evening falls they come
up to the surface to feed on their unsuspecting prey. During courtship the
male Cow Shark bites and nips at the female's gills to entice the females to
mate which often results in scaring and facial wounds. The female Six Gill
reaches sexual maturity between the ages of 18 and 35 years. Weather beaten
and scarred the female goes about her life, but just like their human
counterpart, if they haven't found a man by then they're prospects probably
aren't very good.

Unique features of these underwater
predators include a painted black top side their prey can't see them
swimming below and no dorsal fin. Unlike other sharks, Sixgills are simply
smooth on top with no fin poking up through the water, so you never see them
coming. Attacks by the bluntnose family sharks on humans are rare but in the
unlikely event you see one swimming up to you it is best that you refrain
from splashing or bleeding until they've lost interest and have gone their
way.